According to the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology "Classical Conditioning is an experimental procedure in which conditioned stimulus (CS) that is, at the outset, neutral with respect to the unconditioned response (UR) is paired with unconditioned stimulus (US) that reliably elicits the unconditioned response. After a number of such pairings the CS will elicit, by itself, a conditioned response (CR) very much like UR" (Classical Conditioning, 2009). Classical conditioning was developed by a Russian Physiologist Ivan Pavlov while he was studying the digestive system in dogs.
While Studying the digestive systems in dogs, Pavlov leashed his dogs in a harness and placed food in their
mouths, after which he measured the saliva flow through a tube inserted into
their cheeks. After several repetitions, Pavlov observed that his dogs started
to salivate before the food was placed in their mouths. They would salivate
merely by seeing the assistant in charge of bringing the food or listening to
his footsteps approaching the cage. Pavlov realized that the dogs had learned
to anticipate the food and to associate the food with, for example, the sound
of approaching footsteps. Pavlov called the saliva “the unconditioned response (UR)
because it is a reflex naturally triggered by food, which he called the unconditioned stimulus (US).
He then introduced a bell ring as a neutral
stimulus and repeatedly rang
the bell before presenting the food to the dogs. After several repetitions, the
dogs were conditioned to salivate to the sound of the ring alone. The bell then
became a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the salivation a conditioned
response (CR). After this
simple experiment, researchers started to condition different types of animals
as well as humans to react to a variety of neutral stimuli. Classical
conditioning often takes place without awareness” (Sullivan, 2009). The Classical Conditioning theory was
developed based of his observation suggesting that the salivation was a learned
response.
Classical conditioning procedures can lead to
certain phobias in individuals. According
to the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine “a
phobia is an intense but unrealistic fear that interferes with the ability to
socialize, work or go about everyday life, brought on by and object, event or
situation” (Turkingston, Frey, &
Davidson, 2011) . A phobia is a fear
that is so excessive that the amount of fear is not justified by the cause. Phobias are developed through classical
conditioning procedure when one person is presented with a stimulus that
changes or confuses the original reflexive response to the original stimulus
and create a sense of fear in their mind.
Many people will develop some type of phobia at some point in their
life. Some phobias may eventually go
away and some people will just live with them until they begin to severely
disrupt their life. There are two very
common phobias, acrophobia which is the fear of heights and claustrophobia the
fear of cramped spaces.
Acrophobia seems to be at least
to some extent deep-rooted as a developmental mechanism for some people. However, most individuals use caution but are
not extremely afraid of heights. In my
opinion Acrophobia is a learned response to an incident that may have happened
to someone in the past like a child falling off a jungle gym in the playground.
In an epidemiological study
conducted by Agras et al. (1969), 12.4% of those surveyed had a fear of
heights—ranging from an intense fear at elevations to a phobia (disruption of
everyday functioning because of fear and avoidance). Some can handle heights,
although they are clearly distressed, whereas others experience such intense fear
that height situations must be avoided altogether. Imagine a person not being able to go to a
physician if his office is on the 5th floor, not taking a job because the
office is on the 10th floor, or not visiting friends who move into an apartment
three stories up (Wiederhold & Wiederhold, 2005).
According to Mosby’s Dictionary of Medicine, “Claustrophobia
is a morbid fear of being in or becoming trapped in enclosed or narrow places”
(Mosby's Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, & Health Professions, s.v,
2009). Claustrophobia is one of the most
common phobias that involve extreme fear from being in a cramped space which
may result in a panic attack.
Claustrophobia can develop in childhood years after being trapped in a
small space either from playing a game or being punished. In adulthood claustrophobia can develop in
the same manner of being trapped in a cramped space for a long period of
time. When individuals have these types
of experiences they often experience a panic attack which conditions the brain
to relate cramp spaces with being afraid and losing control.
Operant conditioning developed
by an American psychologist B.F. Skinner focuses on strengthening or weakening
voluntary behaviors by applying rewards or punishment after a behavior. During this procedure a relationship
is developed between the behavior and the consequences for that behavior. There are four possible consequences to a
behavior that cause operant conditioning.
Something good can start or be presented, something good can end or be
taken away, something bad can start or be presented, something bad can end or
be taken away. This the type of
learning that is related to addiction. Individuals
have a natural survival mechanism in place called the pleasure/pain response
system which allows them to feel pleasure when doing something necessary for
survival and pain when doing something that could lessen the chances of
survival. When a person uses a drug they
are often putting themselves through the both the pleasure and the pain
response modes of operant learning. When the drug is initially taken the user
feels pleasure and this is embedded in the brain. Then the user will experience the pain and
sickness from withdrawing from the substance that will also be embedded in the
brain. The user will attempt to achieve
the same pleasure again while trying to avoid the withdrawal symptoms. This is the way addiction works.
The difference between classical
and operant conditioning is the emphasis on whether the behavior is involuntary
or voluntary. Classical conditioning
involves developing a relationship between and involuntary response and a
stimulus, whereas operant conditioning is about developing a relationship
between a voluntary behavior and a reward or consequence. Operant conditioning requires the learner to
actively participate and perform some type of action in order to be rewarded or
punished whereas classical conditioning is a learned reflex.
When a conditioned response or
behavior slowly decreases over time and eventually stop it becomes
extinct. Extinction occurs because the
behavior is no longer reinforced.
Reinforcement of a response or behavior is the method that is either
intentionally or unintentionally recognized by the subject to be the positive
result of the stimuli or behavior.
For example, in Pavlov’s study
where when the dog heard a bell every time and food was presented food it started
to salivate just at the sound of the bell, which is classical conditioning.
However, if food is not presented with the bell several times, then the dog's
salivation will decrease and eventually stop at the sound of the bell. In this
example, the food is the unconditioned stimulus, salivation is the
unconditioned response, the bell is the neutral stimulus that becomes the
conditioned stimulus and the ceasing of the dog to salivate because the food is
no longer presented with the bell is extinction.
Extinction also occurs in
operant conditioning when a behavior is no longer reinforced or the mode of
reinforcement has become unwanted to the subject. For example, a child is
showing improvements in school performance. The parent of the child rewards
this behavior with a cookie at the end of each good day. The child continues to
show improvements knowing that the cookie is waiting at the end of the day, but
eventually the child gets tired of receiving a cookie every day and begins to
slack in school. This is extinction related to operant conditioning. However,
extinction does not mean that the subject goes back to the way they were before
the conditioning started. After a few days of poor performance and no cookie,
the child may start wanting the cookie again and begin to do very well in
school. This is called spontaneous recovery.
No comments:
Post a Comment